The present invention relates to suspended ceiling systems, and in particular to ceiling systems having a grid work of T-shaped support rails that support removable ceiling panels.
Suspended ceiling systems are widely used to provide a dropped ceiling hung from the structural ceiling of a room. Such suspended ceilings provide an aesthetic method of masking heating and cooling ductwork, electrical conduits, light fixtures and other structures which are located above the suspended ceiling, while still providing ready access to these structures.
Typically, a conventional suspended ceiling system includes L-shaped or angled rails that extend along the walls of the room. These rails are nailed, screwed or otherwise fastened intermittently to the wall. Spaced across the center of the room are a number of inverted T-shaped main support rails that span between two opposite walls. These main support rails are suspended by wire hangers from the overhead structural ceiling of the room. These main support rails may also be supported in part by their opposite ends resting on the wall rails. A number of inverted T-shaped crosspieces are fitted between the main support rails in order to rest upon the upper surface of the main support rails' horizontal section. The interconnected main support rails, crosspieces and wall rails form a gridwork that overhangs the entirety of the room, and rectangular ceiling panels are laid on top of this gridwork to complete the ceiling system. Light fixtures, air vents and the like may be similarly supported on the suspended gridwork in a manner similar to the ceiling panels.
Although these suspended ceiling systems provide an adequate ceiling in most environments, due to the construction of the ceiling system the system often provides a commercial, prefabricated or inexpensive appearance. This commercial or austere appearance is in part produced by the use of thin aluminum or other metal rails to form the support gridwork. Since to a casual observer this metal gridwork is obviously that of suspended ceiling, it does not produce a permanent or residential appearance for the ceiling.